Wether you're dabbling with Drupal on the side, or using it as a professional, you're not alone. There are many Drupal lovers like you. There's a community! It's this awesome group of people who are building, maintaining, discussing, writing about,... Drupal. The Drupal community is a cool place to be involved in. But how does one get started? Where does one begin? There are so many aspects and the Drupal project is so large. It's not easy to dive in and contribute. In this session, I'll introduce you to some of the more practical aspects of how to hit it off in the community. I'll be talking about questions such as: What is the Drupal community? Where do I find other Drupal minded people? How does one contribute Drupal modules & themes? What is the Issue queue? How do I use the issue queue to my and your benefit? How can I contribute to Drupal core? What are the benefits of combining community & company? ... Matthias has been involved with Drupal since version 5 back in 2008. He's been living Drupal ever since. He tries to contribute code, issues & knowledge on a regular basis. You're definitely a Drupal rockstar! But you don't know it. Yet. Attending DrupalCamp might be you're first step to fame and glory.

1. Contributing to the community
An introduction to Drupal stardom
Sunday 22 September 13

2. O! Hai there!
• Matthias “Netsensei”Vandermaesen
• Full time Drupal ninja @xiobelgium
• @netsensei
• http://www.colada.be
Sunday 22 September 13

3. “Community?”
Sunday 22 September 13

4. • What is this “Community”?
• How do I join?
• Why should I join?
• What’s next?
Big questions
Sunday 22 September 13

5. Keywords
• Community contributing
• “ The Drop is always moving”
• “Come for the software, stay for the
community”
• Dries B.
• ...
Sunday 22 September 13

6. This is the community
Sunday 22 September 13

7. It’s about sharing
• Code
• Knowledge
• Common goals & values
• Friendship
Sunday 22 September 13

8. Drupal project
• The Drupal project
• Open source
• Community driven
• Dries (Our Beloved Leader)
Sunday 22 September 13

9. Where are they?
• http://drupal.org AKA d.o
• IRC: Freenode: #drupal, #drupal-contribute
• Meetings, conferences, user groups,...
• Social media
Sunday 22 September 13

10. How do I join?
Sunday 22 September 13

11. Contributions!
Sunday 22 September 13

12. Code
(obviously)
Sunday 22 September 13

13. Hold your horses!
Collaborative participation is key
Sunday 22 September 13

14. Sunday 22 September 13

15. Patches
• Most code is contributed in this way!
• Bug fixes
• Improvements
• Some are small, some are massive
Sunday 22 September 13

16. The d.o issue queue!
And your personal d.o profile
Sunday 22 September 13

17. Dreditor
• Drupal Editor
• Chrome extension
• Inline code review of patches
• Souper easy!!
Sunday 22 September 13

18. Simplytest.me
• http://simplytest.me
• Provides sandbox environments
• Test modules & patches
• Simple, fast, free!
Sunday 22 September 13

19. Creating patches
• Git
• Tutorial
• http://jacine.net/post/8419331209/
patches
Sunday 22 September 13

20. Co-maintain
• Projects looking for co-maintainers
• https://drupal.org/taxonomy/term/9990
• Get in touch via their issue queue
• Gauge the level of expected engagement
• Maintain a subsystem, a branch,...
• Take over the entire module
Sunday 22 September 13

21. A new project
• Start a d.o sandbox
• https://drupal.org/node/1011196
• Apply for promotion to a full project
• https://drupal.org/node/1015224
Sunday 22 September 13

22. A new project
• Pro’s
• Get your name known
• See people use your code
• Learn valuable lessons about coding,
managing, collaboration, communication,...
Sunday 22 September 13

23. A new project
• Con’s
• Responsibility
• Engagement can be demanding
• “have to” keep up with the Drop
Sunday 22 September 13

24. Drupal Ladder
• http://drupalladder.org/
Sunday 22 September 13

25. Knowledge
Sunday 22 September 13

26. Learning / Sharing
Sunday 22 September 13

27. Learning
•Self study
• Via mentors
• Dedicated training
• Events
Sunday 22 September 13

28. Learning!
• Pick a concrete problem
• Something that nags you
• Don’t look very far!
• Pick a topic which intrigues you
• Shouldn’t get boring too quickly
Sunday 22 September 13

29. Learning!
• Documentation
• No-brainers:
• d.o documentation
• http://planet.drupal.org
• #freenode IRC
• YouTube,Vimeo,...
Sunday 22 September 13

30. Learning!
• Look for a mentor
• d.o profile!
• Hook up with other Drupal users
• Local hackerspace, DUG, school,
workplace,...
Sunday 22 September 13

31. Blogging
• Keep it simple at first!
• Register a blog
• wordpress.com, drupalgardens.com,...
• Make sure you have an RSS feed!
• Focus on writing great content ...
Sunday 22 September 13

32. Blogging
• ... but write about... what?
• Solutions for daily annoyances
• Something awesome you did
• Keep a list with topics & ideas!
• Evernote,Wunderlist,... or a moleskine
• Topic should intrigue you first!
Sunday 22 September 13

33. Screencasts
• Videos of how you do X orY
• Verbose / Terse
• Short (10 - 15 min)
• YouTube = place 2 publish
Sunday 22 September 13

34. Screencasts
• Notable examples
• http://mustardseedmedia.com/podcast
• http://codekarate.com
• http://nodeone.se/sv/learn-drupal
Sunday 22 September 13

35. Speaking
Sunday 22 September 13

36. (Psst! I really want to be in my happy place right now)
Sunday 22 September 13

37. Speaking
• Propose a session
• DUG, DrupalCamp, DrupalCon
• Preparation
• Pick a topic you’re in to
• Start preparing in time
• Practice!
Sunday 22 September 13

38. Don’t be scared!
You’ll do better then you think
Sunday 22 September 13

39. Uh-oh!
Impediments
Sunday 22 September 13

40. Excuses
• Family life
• Other activities
• “I already do enough Drupal at work”
• “Work for me ends at 5PM”
• “I just don’t care”
• ...
Sunday 22 September 13

41. Time
Effort
Sunday 22 September 13

42. Find ways
• Be realistic about available time
• Don’t be under/over ambitious
• Prioritize
• You can contribute in <30 minutes
• During daily commute
• Instead of watching TV
Sunday 22 September 13

43. You are not ...
It’s not a competition
Sunday 22 September 13

44. So, why should I
contribute?
Sunday 22 September 13

45. Level up your code
• Gain new knowledge
• Experiment with new technology
• Get feedback from others
• Improve your own code
Sunday 22 September 13

46. Improve soft skills
• Lurk in the community
• Actively engage in discussions
• Try to see the bigger picture
• Don’t be an ***hole
• Become an authoritative voice
Sunday 22 September 13

47. Know thy selve
• Learn to deal with people
• Be focussed
• Be committed
• Be realistic
• Pay it forward
• Impress yourself
Sunday 22 September 13

48. Keep up with the Drop
Psst! Drupal 8 is coming!!
Sunday 22 September 13

49. Why should my
company contribute?
Sunday 22 September 13

50. Level up your team
• Challenge your team members
• Look for problems/applications on the
workfloor
• Establish a positive feedback loop
• Knowledge is The Prize
• Learning = evolution
• Developer happiness
Sunday 22 September 13

51. Level up your workflow
• Be critical about yourself
• Can it be done better, next time?
• Increases productivity
• Avoid re-inventing the wheel
• Apply soft skills when engaging with
clients
Sunday 22 September 13

52. “Do no evil”
• Collaborate beyond your company
• Share knowledge
• Share code
• Be open about what you do
• Your offices should not be isolated islands
Sunday 22 September 13

53. Then again...
• It’s great advertising/marketing!
• Your team knows their toolbelt
• Your team is engaged & proactive
• Shows genuine concern
• You’re open about how you work
• Displays craftmanship
Sunday 22 September 13

54. How?
• Create creative space
• Get interesting clients/projects
• Don’t go for the easy ones
• Engage/Empower your team
• Ask their commitment, don’t take it
• Give them responsibility
Sunday 22 September 13

55. How?
• Show you care about community
• Validate your employees’ ideas
• Provide regular feedback
• Don’t stand on the side-line
• Create enough “creative headroom”
Sunday 22 September 13

56. How?
• Assign an internal “community manager”
• Set up regular community meetings
• Open up your offices for events
• Organize training sessions
Sunday 22 September 13

57. How?
• What about “Google time”?
• Doesn’t work...
• ... unless there’s are concrete ideas
• ... unless there are clear goals
• ... part of company culture
Sunday 22 September 13

58. Drupal Give
• https://drupal.org/drupalgive
Sunday 22 September 13

59. Thanks! Questions?
Sunday 22 September 13